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Whole-body exposure to high-energy particle radiation remains an unmitigated hazard to human health in space. Ongoing experiments at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory and elsewhere repeatedly show persistent changes in brain function long after exposure to simulations of this unique radiation environment, although, as is also the case with proton radiotherapy sequelae, how this occurs and especially how it interacts with common comorbidities is not well-understood. Here, we report modest differential changes in behavior and brain pathology between male and female Alzheimer’s-like and wildtype littermate mice 7–8 months after exposure to 0, 0.5, or 2 Gy of 1 GeV proton radiation. The mice were examined with a battery of behavior tests and assayed for amyloid beta pathology, synaptic markers, microbleeds, microglial reactivity, and plasma cytokines. In general, the Alzheimer’s model mice were more prone than their wildtype littermates to radiation-induced behavior changes, and hippocampal staining for amyloid beta pathology and microglial activation in these mice revealed a dose-dependent reduction in males but not in females. In summary, radiation-induced, long-term changes in behavior and pathology, although modest, appear specific to both sex and the underlying disease state.

Space radiation presents a substantial threat to travel beyond Earth. Relatively low doses of high-energy particle radiation cause physiological and behavioral impairments in rodents and may pose risks to human spaceflight. There is evidence that 56Fe irradiation, a significant component of space radiation, may be more harmful to males than to females and worsen Alzheimer’s disease pathology in genetically vulnerable models. Yet, research on the long-term, sex- and genotype-specific effects of 56Fe irradiation is lacking. Here, we irradiated 4-month-old male and female, wild-type and Alzheimer’s-like APP/PS1 mice with 0, 0.10, or 0.50 Gy of 56Fe ions (1GeV/u). Mice underwent microPET scans before and 7.5 months after irradiation, a battery of behavioral tests at 11 months of age and were sacrificed for pathological and biochemical analyses at 12 months of age. 56Fe irradiation worsened amyloid-beta (Aβ) pathology, gliosis, neuroinflammation and spatial memory, but improved motor coordination, in male transgenic mice and worsened fear memory in wild-type males. Although sham-irradiated female APP/PS1 mice had more cerebral Aβ and gliosis than sham-irradiated male transgenics, female mice of both genotypes were relatively spared from radiation effects 8 months later. These results provide evidence for sex-specific, long-term CNS effects of space radiation.